Friends!

It’s been so long since an update and we wanted to get back on here and share all that’s been happening. Wayne and family are doing great.  He arrived back home in the middle of October, moving into their new family home all together in Meridian ID. As you know there was incredible generosity from the Braveheart organization and Home Depot on making some adaptability changes to make Wayne and the whole family more comfortable.  We couldn’t be more grateful for their generous support.

The Fall was really spent settling in and acclimating to being out of the hospital and at home. The first big hurdle of finding reliable transportation for Wayne to get to appointments and physical therapy visits finally paid off and Mike Shoemaker, Wayne’s brother in law, flew to Colorado to pick up a pre-owned wheelchair accessible van that works great for Wayne. Being so tall really made his options limited in the transportation department, and anything new was so expensive and would have taken way too long to wait for. With the van in place Wayne was able to begin to get out of the house and able get to all of his needed appointments.  

There were visitors throughout the Fall and just before Christmas Wayne was able to start to work again at his job at Micron. They have been great and got him equipment for his office at home so he can roll his wheelchair right in and work pretty seamlessly. Pop, William Hues, comes and spends most every weekday with Wayne arriving just before 8AM and is here throughout the day if Wayne needs anything as he works toward being more and more independent.   THE VA resources continue to be amazing and he has great aides who visit the house every day.  

A couple of weeks ago Wayne got connected with and started PT at Saint Al’s in Boise. His therapist Elizabeth has been nothing short of amazing. In our research we have found that there are limited offerings of the kind of advanced PT that those who are faced with Spinal Cord injuries really need. Boise did not have one of the specialized centers in neurological rehabilitation that we so very much wanted Wayne to be able to access. We however found in talking with one of these centers elsewhere, that a PT from Boise had trained with them, so they connected us with Elizabeth at St. Al’s. 

She met Wayne and got him started! He is beginning to go twice a week now for PT and OT.  On one of his early visits she did some set-ups to engage his legs and see what if any movement his legs might have.  Much to his and the staffs amazement-Wayne has some ability to move his legs on his own! By removing the force of gravity she saw that he could move both legs and that it is clear that the neuro message is getting through!  On a subsequent visit she found that even with gravity not removed, he is able to move his legs.  His muscles are very weak and tight from being in a bed and chair for the last 11 months but we are beyond excited to see where this discovery leads!  Even she was astonished by it and said she would not have expected this from his diagnosis.  Each week he is being pushed and making new gains. He is working incredibly hard and honestly he has the most amazing attitude.  I’ve posted from videos from a PT session I was able to be at on my recent visit.  You can see here how he is increasing his ability to roll himself, he is able to kick his leg, push back against his therapist and while his foot is on a roller table kick his leg to move it back and forth over and over.  

Feel free to reach out to Wayne.  He has his phone and email on him and can call, text, email all on his own.  He hopes to do an update himself in the near future 😊  Waynehues@gmail.com.  Thanks everyone for keeping him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.